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raising the flag 1970-01-01 00:59:59 stiff little fingers - 'flags & emblems'released: 1991running time: 35'48"castle communicationssuggested for review by ainosongs: 1. (it's a) long way to paradise (from here) 2. stand up and shout 3. each dollar a bullet 4. the cosh 5. beirut moon 6. the game of life 7. human shield 8. johnny 7 9. die and burn 10. no surrenderin face of recent events, it's sadly appropriate that aino suggested this record for me to talk about, a record that had the song 'beirut moon' as a first single. there was controversy at the time, with the single being banned for the attacks it contained on the british government regarding its action (or lack thereof) in the john mccarthy hostage situation. this might have given stiff little fingers a much needed boost of credibility they desperately needed at the time. 'flags & emblems' came out at a difficult time in the life of the northern irish band - generally considered to be washed up and way past their prime, reforming after five years of in
unsaved 1970-01-01 00:59:59 abigail's mercy - 'salvation'released: july 2006running time: 51'49"casket musicsongs: 1. to hell with angels 2. just for you 3. meaningless 4. sarah 5. keep me coming 6. ashes 7. salvation 8. the sky begins to cry 9. cloud dancer 10. the truthi received this promo a couple of weeks ago, and having reviewed it for the several magazines i work for, i decided to post it here, since too.many.records. hasn't really catered for the gothier crowd yet.yes, goth. so let's get it out of the way quickly: abigail's mercy, despite the frequent unfairness with which some of these comparisons are handed out, do sound like several other bands you probably know that play goth rock with a duet of grainy male and operatic female vocals. before you leap quickly to the next review or, heaven (and hell) forbid, the next blog, in disgust, it should be stated that some of the songwriting on 'salvation' is not entirely bad. the talent to write sticky vocal lines is quite evident. i dare you to not hu
dynamic duo 1970-01-01 00:59:59 richard buckner & jon langford - 'sir dark invader vs. the fanglord'released: may 31, 2005running time: 30'43"buried treasuresongs: 1. rolling of the eyes 2. nothing to show 3. sweet anybody 4. from attic to basement 5. torn apart 6. stayed 7. the inca princess 8. no tears tonight 9. do you wanna go somewhere?this record could not have been released on a better titled label for it than buried treasure records. this collaboration is indeed a treasure, and one that could have easily remained buried, having been shelved for almost three years before its release. a treasure, mostly because of its uniqueness and improbability. you'd be hard pushed to find less likely indie musicians to hook up and make a record than introspective richard buckner (the dark invader, in case you were wondering) and expansive jon langford (yes, the fanglord), well known for his work in punk pioneers the mekons and in country-punks waco brothers. yet hook up they did, in a chicago apartment where they hu
finnish soul 1970-01-01 00:59:59 amorphis - 'eclipse'released: february 20, 2006running time: 45'28"nuclear blastsongs: 1. two moons 2. house of sleep 3. leaves scar 4. born from fire 5. under a soil and black stone 6. perkele (the god of fire) 7. the smoke 8. same flesh 9. brother moon 10. empty opening 11. stone woman'eclipse' only clicked totally for me when i watched amorphis performing live at this year's tuska festival. on one hand, hearing these new songs effortlessly rub shoulders with the older classics and, on the other hand, witnessing the surprising confidence of new frontman tomi joutsen in tackling songs from every period of the band made me want to go home and listen to 'eclipse' with doubled attention.it paid off - 'eclipse' is one of those records that demands a little extra attention, especially if you're already a fan of the band. even if joutsen's vocals aren't a million miles away from former vocalist pasi koskinen (who, incidentally, is now focusing solely on ajattara, highly recomme
hey ho, let's go! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 ramones - 'ramones'released: april 23, 1976sire recordssongs: 1. blitzkrieg bop 2. beat on the brat 3. judy is a punk 4. i wanna be your boyfriend 5. chain saw 6. now i wanna sniff some glue 7. i don't wanna go down to the basement 8. loudmouth 9. havana affair 10. listen to my heart 11. 53rd & 3rd 12. let's dance 12. i don't wanna walk around with you 14. today your love, tomorrow the worldthe ramones did everything quick. johnny once famously said that 'our songs aren't short, we just play 'em really fast'. and so it was with the recording of their first album. in 17 days, for $6200 (unbelievably cheap, even for 1976 standards), joey, johnny, dee dee and tommy ramone cranked out one of the most significant records in rock music history.and who would have known? in those first, now legendary, cbgb live appearances, the general opinion was more or less 'they're crap'. it took time to get used to the ramones, because they were very different from everyone else. yes, the punk
film noir 1970-01-01 00:59:59 callisto - 'noir'released: may 10th, 2006fullsteam recordssongs: 1. wormwood 2. latterday saints 3. the fugitive 4. backwoods 5. a close encounter 6. pathos 7. folkslave 8. woven hands callisto is a young finnish band that first caught my interest when i watched at a festival and was downright impressed by their take on the neurosis post-rock template. despite their obvious young age, there they were on stage crunching out mammoth riffs worthy of the great oakland band's best moments. i got hold of 'true nature unfolds', their first album, shortly after, and remained duly impressed. with other spiritual children of neurosis like isis and cult of luna stealing the whole show, here was callisto doing it with poise, class and maturity without many people noticing. since then, their stature has grown somewhat, but they still remain rather underrated.so here we have the new follow-up (the may release date was only for finland, us non-finnish got it a bit later) to that great record whi
old skull 1970-01-01 00:59:59 slayer - 'christ illusion'released: august 8, 2006american recordingssongs: 1. flesh storm 2. catalyst 3. eyes of the insane 4. jihad 5. skeleton christ 6. consfearacy 7. catatonic 8. black serenade 9. cult 10. supremistthe trouble with redefining any musical genre, and one with such demanding and involved fans such as metal in particular, is that you'll forever be living under the weight of what you've done. it's hard to think of a band more burdened with history than slayer. yes, there are other bands with a bigger and, arguably, more significant history within metal (not many, though), but the sheer fanaticism of the longtime slayer afficionados ensures that they get no forgiveness whatsoever for anything less than the utter brilliance of their holy trinity, 'reign in blood', 'south of heaven' and 'seasons in the abyss'. ever since then (and 'seasons' is already 16 years old, in case you're forgetting how time flies!), the reaction to every slayer record has been more
pleasure and pain 1970-01-01 00:59:59 joy division - 'unknown pleasures'released: june 1st, 1979running time: 38'21"Factory Recordssuggested for review by aidasongs: 1. disorder 2. day of the lords 3. candidate 4. insight 5. new dawn fades 6. she's lost control 7. shadowplay 8. wilderness 9. interzone 10. i remember nothingjoy division are a sort of missing link, the connecting piece between 70s punk, 80s goth rock and 90s shoegazing. their often forgotten long reach of influence is such that even metal owes quite a debt to them - within all the realms of darker music, with the possible exception of the swans, you will find very few records as hypnotically sombre as 'unknown pleasures'.this historical debut floored an unsuspecting public not only with ian curtis' instantly recognizable drone vocals, apparently monotone but with an ocean of depth, but also with a very different approach to rock songwriting. on 'unknown pleasures', the guitar is not the main vehicle to carry the melody. it's usually the rhythm sect
catch them if you can 1970-01-01 00:59:59 meshuggah - 'catch thirtythree'released: may 23rd, 2005running time: 47'15"nuclear blastsuggested for review by adisongs: 1. autonomy lost 2. imprint of the un-saved 3. disenchantment 4. the paradoxical spiral 5. re-inanimate 6. entrapment 7. mind's mirrors 8. in death - is life 9. in death - is death 10. shed 11. personae non gratae 12. dehumanization 13. sumas my more regular readers (whom i take the opportunity to thank profusely) might have noticed, i tend to value originality and creativity in the music i listen to. it's not too wrong to say that for me oddball is the new cool. i was therefore quite happy when adi suggested meshuggah's latest for me to talk about.throughout their career, these swedes have always exhibited an almost frantic need to experiment, to mutate and to stray from the regular path. for that alone they deserve high accolades. the fact that they've created some metallic masterpieces along the way is obviously very important too. no use trying to be 'ex
heaven can wait 1970-01-01 00:59:59 baylon whores - 'cold heaven'released: august 11th, 1997running time: 36'36"misanthropy recordssongs: 1. deviltry 2. omega therion 3. beyond the sun 4. metatron 5. enchiridion for a common man 6. in arcadia ego 7. babylon astronaut 8. flesh of a swine 9. cold heaventhe babylon whores are (were? we'll get to that in a minute) a very unique band, springing from the black metal-dominated northern european underground of the mid-90s. perhaps as a reaction to that, they have proudly slapped on the back cover of this debut record the term 'death rock'. while uncharacteristic for a band to label themselves like that, especially for an intelligent band such as this, that statement of intent does make sense. even if the sly, caustic sense of humour of these finns makes it impossible to know how tongue-in-cheek this labeling really was, the fact is that 'cold heaven' holds the true spirit of rock, somewhat lost in the decade in which it was released. vocalist/founder ike vil is, appropri
sing your sorrows 1970-01-01 00:59:59 william elliott whitmore - 'ashes to dust'released: february 22, 2005running time: 31'39"regain recordssongs: 1. midnight 2. the day the end finally came 3. when push comes to love 4. diggin' my grave 5. the buzzards won't cry 6. sorest of eyes 7. lift my jug (song for hub cale) 8. gravel road 9. porchlight'when you're up to your neck in shit, the only thing left to do is sing' - this samuel beckett quotation is the only verbal cue you get from the black booklet, but it could not have been more accurate. william elliott whitmore's johnny cash-esque tales of death, love, loss and woe feature protagonists who really have got nothing left but to sing.whitmore's gravely voice, a sort of cross between tom waits and the oldest, coarsest country singers you can think of, cuts right through to the heart of rural america again with his second album. his style hasn't changed much since 'hymns for the hopeless', which is a good thing, for william is a rather unique musical presence a
satan's work 1970-01-01 00:59:59 gorgoroth - 'ad majorem sathanas gloriam'released: june 26, 2006running time: 31'39"regain recordssongs: 1. wound upon wound 2. carving a giant 3. god seed (twilight of the idols) 4. sign of an open eye 5. white seed 6. exit 7. untamed forces 8. prosperity and beautyas of late, gorgoroth may have been attracting more headlines for vocalist gaahl's tribulations with justice, but that should not overshadow the importance of the norwegian band's new album. despite a long career already, gorgoroth have usually been looked at as part of a second tier of black metal bands by most genre fans (me included, i admit), and even excellent albums like 'pentagram' haven't done much to give them the full notoriety many feel they deserve. however, with this new record, probably their best so far, things are bound to change.the final piece in the gorgoroth puzzle might have been the hiring of frost from satyricon and touring partners 1349 for drum duties. the man's relentless battery would mak
top50 - #25 to #21 1970-01-01 00:59:59 21. agalloch - 'ashes against the grain'one of the most important and unclassifiable bands in the united states right now, agalloch continue to define their own sound while striding confidently into the pantheon of the great unclassifiables of every genre, like neurosis or mogwai or even godspeed you black emperor!. what makes every agalloch release increasingly essential is not a specific, look-this-is-it factor. it is the sheer scale that their intricate compositions hold within themselves. steer well clear if you want immediate music - 'ashes against the grain' will start to click around the 15 or so listens, but when it does, each and every song will feel like an entire universe where you can explore and discover new details every day.22. ljå - 'til avsky for livet'it is unusual, at least in my lists, for an album that has a very low level of originality to be placed this high. 'til avsky for livet' doesn't have many things that haven't been done before similarly, at lea
top50 - #30 to #26 1970-01-01 00:59:59 26. tool - '10,000 days'epitomizing the 'progressive' tag while avoiding what bands-who-really-want-to-be 'progressive' do, tool just keep evolving, mutating, rooting themselves deeper. they progress, in fact. no need here to indulge in pointless 15-minute songs that could easily have been written for 5 and do note scale acrobatics. tool's music is deep and complex, and at the same time incredibly primal and intuitive - it has the ability to move you at whatever level you choose to take it. at times retrospective ('vicarious' as a 'stinkfist' for the new generation), at times introspective and challenging (the two 'wings' songs), '10,000' days, like the band itself is always interesting, always exciting and it always matters.27. krux - 'krux ii'the great leif edling, doom grandfather extraordinaire, probably seeking a bit of rest from the current problems of candlemass, re-activated his other band in 2006 to present every doom aficionado with a true modern classic of t
top50 - #20 to #16 1970-01-01 00:59:59 16. enslaved - 'ruun'the towering expectations that previous album 'isa' created could have been a problem, but not so with enslaved. their progression seems unstoppable and 'ruun' is, incredibly, another major step forward in the refining of their by now trademark sound. enslaved have that rare ability to keep adding elements to their music, which started out in the early 90s as high quality but nevertheless rather straightforward viking black metal. these additions don't just augment their compositions, they seemingly fuse together, creating an immense soundscape to which you'll be irresistibly drawn to. closer to neurosis than to black metal as such these days in their all-encompassing scope, on 'ruun' enslaved give you roars, rasps and clean vocals, furious riffing and atmospheric passages, orchestral elements and straight-ahead intensity, progressive influences, middle eastern-sounding melodies and tons of standing-on-windswept-cliffs moments. not so much pushing the env
top50 - #15 to #11 1970-01-01 00:59:59 the last batch before the top 10, which will include a song from each album in .mp3 format.11. amorphis - 'eclipse'also given the too.many.records. treatment several months ago when it came out, 'eclipse' has been a huge grower, especially after seeing these songs played live and managing to sound even more engaging than the older classics. an astonishing interpretation of a finnish traditional tale, 'eclipse' is a rainbow of moods, expertly coloured by terrific keyboard work, traditional instrumentation and memorable guitar leads in that typical amorphis tone. and the voice. tomi joutsen was an unbelievable find and it feels as if he's been in the band for years. amorphis are currently in the studio recording the follow-up to 'eclipse', and it they manage to top it, you can bet they'll be on this list next year again, but a few positions higher even.12. jesu - 'silver'as you might have noticed from my desperate attempts to convey what jesu sound like, this isn't a band wh
top50 - #10 1970-01-01 00:59:59 10. boris - 'pink' if you know this band, let's assume, for this paragraph, that you don't. look at that cover. and that album title. and even, if you're not a melvins connoisseur, the rather indifferent band name. it does seem like everything screams lame at you, doesn't it? well, brace yourself. all this outside appearance gives you very few hints that you have one of the most exciting, energetic, vital albums of the year in front of you. having been around for over 10 years, this japanese trio has been mostly a cult phenomenon, but a wildly creative one nonetheless, with their sound mutating from album to album, from noise to drones to rockier moments. 2006 seems to have been their long overdue breakout year, with both the sunno))) collaboration album (wait for it...) and this 'pink' thing.the first track, strangely enough, doesn't really prepare you for what's coming. although it's brilliantly done, like a spaced-out jesu jamming with sigur rós, it's very dreamy and cl
a beautiful truth 1970-01-01 00:59:59 ed harcourt - 'the beautiful lie'released: june 5, 2006running time: 54'33"emi internationalsongs: 1. whirlwind in d minor 2. visit from the dead dog 3. you only call me when you're drunk 4. the last cigarette 5. shadowboxing 6. late night partner 7. revolution in the heart 8. until tomorrow then 9. scatterbraine 10. rain on the pretty ones 11. the pristine claw 12. i am the drug 13. braille 14. good friends are hard to finded harcourt has been a rather unusual presence within the singer/songwriter bunch for the duration of his recording career. his boyish irreverence is very present in his typically quirky songwriting, and the fans of his previous work probably would describe his music based on the catchy pop/rock full of feeling that has graced the songs of his consistently good four albums. well, 'the beautiful lie' is a little bit different. even if the melancholy has always been there, it's more evident this time around due to the delicacy of most songs. 'the beautiful lie
a sad day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 jesu - 'jesu'released: february 21, 2005running time: 74'31"hydraheadsongs: 1. your path to divinity 2. friends are evil 3. tired of me 4. we all faulter 5. walk on water 6.sun day 7. man/woman 8. guardian angelalways a man with his fingers in many a pie, justin broadrick's musical output has ranged from grindcore (with his brief passage by napalm death in the 80s) to ambient electronics (techno animal) to hiphop (ice) to remixing other people, not to mention of course the enormity of his work in his most known band, godflesh, which he led for nearly 15 years.it was therefore hard to guess which direction his new project, jesu, would take, but justin gladly made it very clear for everyone when he said that he wanted to make 'the saddest music possible'. well, this is certainly a bold claim, and not an easy goal to achieve - god knows cd racks are full of people desperately wanting to sound miserable and ending up sounding like whiny teenagers. the debut ep 'heartache' was certa
labour of love 1970-01-01 00:59:59 david poe - 'love is red'released: june 21, 2005running time: 34'38"ulftone musicsongs: 1. you're the bomb 2. so beautiful 3. love is red 4. wilderness 5. reunion 6. moon 7. settlement 8. you got a reputation 9. doxology 10. love won't last the afternoonmy attention was first drawn to david poe when i was fortunate enough to catch him opening up for a part of ed harcourt's (whose latest record i talked about here) european tour a couple of years ago. there it was, this sleepy-looking new yorker, but surprisingly razor-sharp in his wit, with songs that instantly demanded the attention of an ed harcourt-centered crowd. the merchandise stall had the bold ed harcourt quote that 'love is red' was 'the best album ever!'. i wouldn't go quite that far, but this record is undoubtedly a surprisingly fabulous one.david on record is slightly different from his crazy stage persona. the emotion levels are much higher and there is not so much fooling about, although the sharpness of wit an
a leap of faith 1970-01-01 00:59:59 anathema - 'eternity'released: september 2, 1996running time: 57'57"peaceville recordssongs: 1. sentient 2. angelica 3. the beloved 4. eternity part i 5. eternity part ii 6. hope 7. suicide veil 8. radiance 9. far away 10. eternity part iii 11. cries on the wind 12. ascensionsince the follow-up to 2004's 'a natural disaster' is being written as i write, and it won't be too long until its release, it seems appropriate to look back on the career of these liverpudlians and analyze one of their most important records.'eternity' is not such a landmark strictly because of its absolute quality. in fact, purely taken for what it is, it's one of the weakest of the whole anathema discography, even if that is a particular battlefield where the competition is as fierce as they come. the importance of 'eternity' can be measured instead in what it meant for the development of the band's sound and for what it allowed them to do afterwards. before it, anathema were quite safely pegged wit
a cry from the past 1970-01-01 00:59:59 omen - 'battle cry'released: 1984running time: 36'37"metal bladesongs: 1. death rider 2. the axeman 3. last rites 4. dragon's breath 5. be my wench 6.battle cry 7. die by the blade 8. prince of darkness 9. bring out the beast 10. in the arenatime for some classic heavy metal! quite frankly, you don't get any more classic than omen, who are, strangely enough, one of the severely overlooked bands of the genre's richest period. over time, they have become a sort of a cult thing, name-dropped by every connoisseur worth his salt, and for a reason. the main problem with omen is that they never really took off after this great debut. the sophomore record, 'warning of danger', was still quite interesting, but the following records of their career (which included an 8 year hiatus in the 90s) have been less than essential. so what makes 'battle cry' so special? and whatever it is, does it still hold 22 years after its original release?these questions are actually quite simple, no need
back in the game 1970-01-01 00:59:59 stratovarius - 'stratovarius'released: august 31, 1005running time: 49'21"mayan recordssongs: 1. maniac dance 2. fight!!! 3. just carry on 4. back to madness 5. gypsy in me 6.götterdämmerung (zenith of power) 7. the land of ice and snow 8. leave the tribe 9. unitedthere would have been much better stratovarius records to inaugurate the finnish band's presence on this blog, their masterpiece 'visions' for example, but i chose this one because it represents a sort of coming back from the dark, after all the personal turmoil that took place, mainly with guitarist timo tolkki. it's therefore not easy to take this record solely for what it is, after the rollercoaster of events that preceded it, with wild accusations between the two main men, tolkki and kotipelto, impossible-to-understand member changes, surreal happenings with tolkki, the lot. at one point, it was highly unlikely that another stratovarius record would ever even exist. however, with timo tolkki's mental health pr
top50 - #9 1970-01-01 00:59:59 9. deicide - 'the stench of redemption' if you read me going on about it at the time, you know i was pretty excited when this came out, and i had good reasons to. deicide had been for so many years a frustrating band, churning out okay records when you knew they had it in them to do so much more. the hoffman brothers, talented guitarists as they are, were settled in an uncomfortable animosity with mainman glen benton, which obviously did not do wonders for band chemistry. exit hoffmans, enter ralph santolla and jack owen, and these two axemen gave deicide new life. or new death, in this case.a fired up glen benton is not someone you want to fuck with, really. his mighty roar in the cute-titled 'death to jesus', or his quasi-black metal screeches on the thundering, scary 'walk with the devil in dreams you behold', show a man with a sense of purpose once again. backed up by some of the more twisted, squealing guitarwork of the year and a constant, brutal battery, this is really as
top50 - #8 1970-01-01 00:59:59 8. sunno))) & boris - 'altar' before i even start on the difficult task of trying to describe what this record sounds like, it's worth it to mention that this is how a collaboration album should be done. much like the richard buckner & jon langford record, except in an entirely different musical genre, 'altar' is much more than the sound of the two bands fused together. it's not sunno)))'s drones with boris hazy, slowly unveiling riffing. 'altar' is the sound of two already essential bands bringing their talents together and creating something new, something that is much, much more from a mere sum of two parts.as if the joining of these two titans of weirdness wasn't enough, some other heavyweights join the fun too. most notable among the gang are kim thayil, former soundgarden guitar player (so good to hear from him!), who contributes guitar on 'blood swamp', the mighty joe preston (melvins, high on fire, earth), who is actually responsible for the two bands meeting, vocal
dynamic duo 1970-01-01 00:59:59 richard buckner & jon langford - 'sir dark invader vs. the fanglord'released: may 31, 2005running time: 30'43"buried treasuresongs: 1. rolling of the eyes 2. nothing to show 3. sweet anybody 4. from attic to basement 5. torn apart 6. stayed 7. the inca princess 8. no tears tonight 9. do you wanna go somewhere?this record could not have been released on a better titled label for it than buried treasure records. this collaboration is indeed a treasure, and one that could have easily remained buried, having been shelved for almost three years before its release. a treasure, mostly because of its uniqueness and improbability. you'd be hard pushed to find less likely indie musicians to hook up and make a record than introspective richard buckner (the dark invader, in case you were wondering) and expansive jon langford (yes, the fanglord), well known for his work in punk pioneers the mekons and in country-punks waco brothers. yet hook up they did, in a chicago apartment where they hu
raising the flag 1970-01-01 00:59:59 stiff little fingers - 'flags & emblems'released: 1991running time: 35'48"castle communicationssuggested for review by ainosongs: 1. (it's a) long way to paradise (from here) 2. stand up and shout 3. each dollar a bullet 4. the cosh 5. beirut moon 6. the game of life 7. human shield 8. johnny 7 9. die and burn 10. no surrenderin face of recent events, it's sadly appropriate that aino suggested this record for me to talk about, a record that had the song 'beirut moon' as a first single. there was controversy at the time, with the single being banned for the attacks it contained on the british government regarding its action (or lack thereof) in the john mccarthy hostage situation. this might have given stiff little fingers a much needed boost of credibility they desperately needed at the time. 'flags & emblems' came out at a difficult time in the life of the northern irish band - generally considered to be washed up and way past their prime, reforming after five years of in
finnish soul 1970-01-01 00:59:59 amorphis - 'eclipse'released: february 20, 2006running time: 45'28"nuclear blastsongs: 1. two moons 2. house of sleep 3. leaves scar 4. born from fire 5. under a soil and black stone 6. perkele (the god of fire) 7. the smoke 8. same flesh 9. brother moon 10. empty opening 11. stone woman'eclipse' only clicked totally for me when i watched amorphis performing live at this year's tuska festival. on one hand, hearing these new songs effortlessly rub shoulders with the older classics and, on the other hand, witnessing the surprising confidence of new frontman tomi joutsen in tackling songs from every period of the band made me want to go home and listen to 'eclipse' with doubled attention.it paid off - 'eclipse' is one of those records that demands a little extra attention, especially if you're already a fan of the band. even if joutsen's vocals aren't a million miles away from former vocalist pasi koskinen (who, incidentally, is now focusing solely on ajattara, highly recomme
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